Dr. Joseph Shrand has been on the front lines of Brockton’s opiate epidemic for years as the medical director of the teen treatment center CASTLE.

He has seen the problem grow – the program more than doubled its patient load over six years – and yet he also says the stigma attached to drug abuse has stubbornly refused to recede.

That is why on Tuesday, when Gov. Deval Patrick released the findings of his Opioid Task Force, Shrand said he was pleased that Patrick was again using the power of his office to shine a spotlight on the epidemic.

“People have ignored substance abuse because of the stigma that goes with it,” Shrand said.

Patrick outlined seven main actions that his administration will take in response to the findings, prompted by the governor’s declaration of a public health emergency in March.

They include beefing up youth and correctional treatment programs, encouraging peer-based support networks, plugging gaps in the insurance coverage of addiction medicine and convening a meeting of New England’s governors next week to address the issue.

“These actions will help enhance our network of treatment and recovery services to help communities and families struggling with addiction,” Patrick said in a statement. “I hope this work results in more families talking openly about issues of addiction in order to spark the process of healing and recovery.”

The announcement drew both praise and frustration among Brockton-area addiction experts.

Shrand said he wished there was as much focus on insurance companies paying for prevention programs as there is on funding treatment and recovery. He also said there should be a more systemic effort to pay recovering addicts to talk to people in their own communities about the dangers of opiate use.

Stoughton Deputy Police Chief Robert Devine said he took part in a focus group that contributed ideas to the governor’s task force.

Among the ideas Devine said he was glad came to fruition is expanding local drug abuse coalitions like OASIS, a Stoughton substance abuse program Devine co-chairs.

However, Devine said Patrick’s plan focused primarily on two of the three legs of the epidemic – prevention and treatment – while mostly ignoring enforcement programs such as grants for community policing.

“It’s a multi-faceted approach,” Devine said. “Pouring money into one of the three (aspects) is not going to get it done. It’s a complex problem that requires complex answers.”

Page 2 of 2 - One of those solutions may be increasing the number of drug courts in Massachusetts. Patrick requested $2.7 million for five additional drug courts and three mental health courts in his fiscal year 2015 budget.

Rep. Claire Cronin, D-Easton, is a member of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and supports adding more drug courts, which offer treatment as an alternative to jail for drug offenders.

The state currently has 20 drug courts, according to the National Drug Court Resource Center. Cronin said there is a “strong understanding” of the epidemic in the Legislature that should help with the passage of Patrick’s funding request.

“It’s fiscally very sound,” Cronin said. “It’s costly but it’s probably far more costly in the long run if we don’t take this head on.”

Susan Silva, the organizer of East Bridgewater’s HOPE (Help, Outreach, Prevention, Education) program, is the mother of a recovering heroin addict.

She praised the governor’s $20 million commitment to boosting treatment services as “better late than never,” but said Patrick’s efforts should have come several years ago, when she and others saw the epidemic take off in East Bridgewater and nearby communities.

“There are a lot of people who have died because this announcement and this emergency order is late,” Silva said.